I haven't seen it, so I don't think I can comment on it. In true wikipedia fashion, the article on it is full of spoilers and doesn't really give a good impressoin of the series. Something about fighting with swords for no reason but it is metaphorical somehow? Fuck people, learn how to write. Maybe i'll put it on my netflix queue

> The article on it is full of spoilers and doesn't really give a good impressoin of the series. Something about fighting with swords for no reason but it is metaphorical somehow?

It's not really an easy task to describe this series. The actual fighting is not really important. Basically, they take some basic shoujo storyline, and then they make it go in mysterious, completely surreal and morally questionable direction. You generally are hooked right from the first ep., though the really repetitive nature of the show might put you off. There are three arcs, each arc having a quite rigid episode structure (save for a few fun/recap eps), it contributes a lot to the mysterious, almost mystical ambience.

> How do western people feel about it's yuri elements?

I'd guess it is subtle enough not to cause too much outcry, but definitely not enough to be ignored, but I'd also guess that it's a part of what attracts a lot of people to the show.

This is a common misconception. The movie mainly references the series by being different from it. This is amusing if you've seen the series, but there is definitely no requirement whatsoever of having seen the series for enjoying the movie on its own.

Now that I think again about the series, I realize all the stuff that my mind was not perverted enough to notice the first time, and yet, back then, I already understood very well the subtle cues indicating how everybody was fucking with everybody else.

Utena is an awesome series. Although, some people prefer to watch the movie after watching the TV show, I agree with >>12 that the movie can hold on its own, although it probably freaks out a lot of people.

Utena is most definitely one of my top five favorite anime. For one thing, everyone is screwing eachother, yet that fact is displayed in a rather subtle way. Its beautiful and over the top. The music is awesome and the characters are memorable. Great series. I really enjoyed the film too. ^.^

About the composer of the duel tracks, J.A. Seazer, is there any actual info out there? I remember searching like crazy a few years ago, yet all I could find was basically "Did music in the 60's. Did music for Utena. Member of a theatrical company. Doesn't exist at all otherwise"

Haven't seen the film yet but from the few images I found online I wonder why Utena has short hair?

I've only watched up to the start of the 2nd arc in the anime series so far but plan to finish the series when I have the time. I hope it gets less episodic soon though... it's also a bit annoying how the duels themselves are (or seem) much shorter than the zettai unmei song + stair sequence. >_<